


The Case of the Final Answer

by TheMightyPen88



Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: But a One Shot, Case Fic, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Feels, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Hypothermia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-24
Updated: 2019-10-24
Packaged: 2021-01-02 13:07:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21162137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMightyPen88/pseuds/TheMightyPen88
Summary: “Bright, you need to wait for backup! Bright!” Gil huffed, sounding like he was in rush. Malcolm knew that it was in fact better to wait for backup after all of the situations that he had found himself in since joining the team but he was also aware that it was going to take precious minutes for the detectives to fight through the crowds to make it topside, and Elise likely didn’t have minutes to spare.





	The Case of the Final Answer

**Author's Note:**

> Yo, this is my first fic so I assume apologies are in order.
> 
> Not beta read. Most of the time I can't even convince myself to reread what I write, to be fair.
> 
> Mostly written post Episode 4, should be pretty much canon compliant and I do make some references to previous episodes.
> 
> ***Fair warning that none of this is at all very realistic. I make the New York Bay sound like a freaking ocean and I just googled the medical info so please give a little leeway for all of that.***

The killer they were looking for had left four bodies floating in the New York Bay within just a week and a half and Gil was beginning to get nervous. Well, more nervous than he was when he, JT, Dani, and Malcolm had started on the case at the top of the week thinking that with such a public dumping ground there had to be an abundance of witnesses and clues. 

They hadn’t been alerted to the case until the second body was found three days after the first. There were jumpers from the Brooklyn Bridge about every two weeks so the first body didn’t raise too much suspicion. That was until Dr. Tanaka got her hands on the second body and noticed darkened smudges around the wrists. Call it a hunch, but something in her brain nudged her to double check the   
John that had been found just three days before and was processed by one of her colleagues. She didn’t find any bruising on the wrists but the ankles had similar rings around them. Though she was half tempted to report said the colleague for failing to report something so significant, some pathologists have less regard for Does, she was too caught up in having a case to present to Gil, to present to Malcolm, to care much.   
The fun was starting to be curbed as the third body was found another three days after the second with facial injuries added to the bruising on the wrists. 

The fourth body is what sent everyone into a darker desperation to find the killer. This one was found just two days after the last. The tell-tale bruising that seemed to be the signature of the killer was not around the wrists or ankles, but the neck this time. Cracked ribs and three missing fingernails carefully removed to inflict pain before the death of the victim rounded out the bodies found so far. Their killer was escalating, fast.  
\-------------  
Gil harshly exhaled and pushed his hand through his hair.

“All but the first of our victims have been identified and all three were socialites that liked to party. But that doesn’t tell us much of anything. There are innumerable ways that these victims could have ended up in the Bay.” He shook his head and sighed again, clearly frustrated. 

Dani looked up from her phone where she had been looking at an email sent to her from a colleague who had been doing some research for them. 

“Actually, boss, Gingrich just sent a report. All three were definitely into parties, especially on yachts. The second and the latest victim were both confirmed to have been on the guest list for two different parties, same boat though, the Final Answer. It’s an 81-footer owned by a hotel chain that is rented out for socialite parties almost every night. It heads out into the Bay around 8:00 p.m. and usually isn’t back to dock until after 2:00 a.m. It’s a big enough boat and everyone is so boozed up I wouldn’t be surprised if no one noticed a person go missing.”

“Alright, so we know the where, but what about the why and how? Do you have a profile, Bright?” Gil asked turning to face Malcolm at the front of the conference room. JT and Gil couldn’t see from their angle but Dani watched as Malcolm clamped down on his shaking hand before swiftly spinning around to face the others.

“Our killer is likely a male in his late 30’s early 40’s in good physical condition. He’s also probably physically attractive. He doesn’t have a preference on which gender he kills, obviously, since the first and fourth victims were men and the other two were women. He uses his looks and narcissistic charm to seduce his victims into an area alone with him, though I’m unsure if he offers a sexual benefit or business benefit to lure them in.” Malcolm trailed off, mumbling to himself. “…it would make sense that this all would take place on a boat. Dr. Tanaka and I took a closer look at the bruising on our victims. We ruled out rope restraints and agreed that it was likely metal. The exact locations of the bruising suggests that the victims were being weighed down by something attached to either their ankles, wrists, or neck in the case of the last one. Their cause of death was drowning for all of them, even the ones with the addition of external injuries.”

“If they are being weighed down, then how the hell are we finding them washed up on shore, wonder boy?” JT interjected. 

“You see that’s the interesting part,” The gleam in Malcolm’s eyes brightens, earning half-hearted exasperated looks from everyone in the room. “We think that the cuffs attached to whatever weights are used must be electronically controlled or set to a timer to release after maybe ten, fifteen minutes. Our suspect wants the bodies to be found, but doesn’t want to do the dirty work of actually drowning the victims themselves, likely to avoid being caught. We will want to find a way to get on the list for the Final Answer if there is a party tonight. Our killer is more than likely a staff member on board. They would be able to store their supplies without being caught and would be a familiar and friendly face to everyone on board, making them appear less suspicious. They’ll know how to blend in.”

JT shook his head and scoffed. “These psychos are getting way too high tech. Hands free drowning cuffs? What happened to good old-fashioned mind games?” 

Dani and Gil watched the grimace flash across Malcolm’s face before settling on a slightly lost helplessness. The connection was lost on JT as he continued, “At least we’re investigating a yacht. I’m always down to party.” Malcolm clenched his trembling hand.

\----------------------------------

The team had time to stop home before their covert affair down at the Bay began. JT needed to go home to take care of his dog and Gil had a few packages waiting at his doorstep that he wanted to bring in before the rain and possible snow began that was predicted to make their investigation all that more difficult tonight. Gil and JT started down the hallway, but Dani snagged Malcolm’s shoulder before he could make to follow. Dani didn’t have any reason to swing by her apartment and she knew that Malcolm was having a rough, well, rougher day that usual. 

“Bright, I’m coming with you to yours. I don’t need to stop by mine, and Gil was saying that you would be my ride to the docks.” Dani tried to be nonchalant, but she knew that Malcolm could almost always tell when people were lying to him. She was just stretching the truth; She really didn’t need to go home. And she did want a ride, carpooling and all that, you know? When Malcolm’s eyelids fluttered and his gaze moved from her to her hand on his shoulder she knew that he knew.

“Okay.” He exhaled with a ghost of a smile before turning and guiding her out of police building where one of his mother’s personal SUV taxi fleet was waiting to bring him home. In the car Malcolm kept up a steady stream of meaningless prattling which was just one of the many tells that Dani knew to be a sign of Malcolm’s hyperactive nerves. She had been at his place before a couple months back when the alcohol he had drank reacted badly with the medication he was given at the hospital following the snake bite. He had been pretty out of it then though, so she supposed he didn’t have a lot of time for nerves when he was that   
far gone. The car pulled over and he became silent.

“Alright, Bright, let’s go feed that parakeet of yours.” Dani said stepping out of the car, trying to break down some of the tension that seemed to be crackling.

“Sunshine, her name is Sunshine.” Malcolm muttered so quiet and distractedly that Dani almost didn’t hear him. She was tempted to snort in amusement at the sheer irony of Malcolm’s…issues in comparison to his pet bird but it also made her just sad enough to silently nod instead.

Malcolm unlocked the door and led the way up the flight of stairs.

“So, um,” he started. “This morning was little rough so…” he trailed off with a huffed laugh as he opened the door. At first Dani didn’t really understand what he was alluding to. It sounded like every time he woke up in the morning wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience from what she gathered from his night terror she witnessed during his first case with the team. Her eyes swept left to right, with the living room and kitchen looking normal and as tidy as ever but when her glance reached his bed she knew what he was talking about. The window that had been boarded over had finally been replaced from a few months back when Malcolm had launched through it after one of his restraints broke. She noticed the addition of thick clear plastic bars on the inside of the window as a new precautionary measure. But it wasn’t any of that that was concerning her. Today at least. Beside the bed Malcolm’s bedside table was splintered into a couple of pieces and shattered glass from the cup that had been sitting on top was scattered all over the floor, small pieces reaching all the way to just a foot away from where the two of the stood. Both restraints were torn out of the wall and laying on the floor.

“I didn’t get a chance to clean up before heading to the station today.” Malcolm said with a rueful smile. “We’re not quite sure what to try next now that I seem to be yanking the restraints from the wall. Mother suggests going back to the metal cuffs we had used first before we knew better, but I think I rather prefer my wrists and hands attached to my body.” He laughed like there was joke embedded in his words but Dani just pursed her lips and looked back to the disaster on the floor. She couldn’t fake a laugh to entertain Malcolm’s attempts to circumnavigate his uncomfortableness when all she could imagine was a young boy resembling him with bruised and bloody wrists encased in shackles. Blinking rapidly, Dani turned to Malcolm.

“You got a broom somewhere around here?” she asked. She watched as he walked to a small pantry closet in his kitchen pulling out a broom and dust pan.

“I’ve got this, why don’t you just sit down, this should only take a moment.” Malcolm gestured to his couch as he made to walk past Dani but she put a hand on the broom and gently pulled the dust pan out of his grip. All she could think about were his wrists. Skinny, not unlike the young boy she was picturing.

“In exchange for me cleaning up, you’ll fix us up something to eat. I don’t know how long we’ll be stuck at this party but contrary to what JT seems to think, we aren’t going to have time to schmooze and snack.” Dani knew it was a weak excuse to get him to eat but she thought he might be more likely to eat rather than make her eat alone. Plus, she left him no room for argument and it seemed to work. As she started sweeping up the shattered glass she glanced over to see that Malcolm had removed his suit jacket and was leaned over looking into the fridge. 

“Does breakfast for dinner work for you?” he asked without looking up. 

“Breakfast at any time of day is always acceptable, Bright.” 

It only took Dani all of two minutes to clean up the glass and awkwardly place the torn leather cuffs on Malcolm’s bed. She headed back into the kitchen area, sitting at the bar watching Malcolm absently start combining ingredients and cook in relative silence until he placed a plate in front of her.

“Damn, Bright, these are pretty good.” Dani said between forkfuls of vanilla and strawberry crepes.

“I said that I don’t eat, not that I can’t cook.” Bright said his eyes crinkling along with his smile and he moved pieces of a crepe back and forth on his plate. When he noticed Dani staring at his fork he took a small bite and continued on hoping to distract her.

“You know, fun fact, I used to cook a lot actually.” He said tilting his head towards her. “It helped keep me busy. Distracted me…” he trailed off looking at his hand which was shaking considerably less than earlier. Dani gave him a smile and pointed her fork at him.

“Well hey, maybe you should get into it again. Have a hobby other than collecting pointy weapons. Especially if it will help with you ‘totally fine shaky fist’.” She teased. “I mean, dang Bright, you can make me food any time if it’s half as good as this.” They both laughed and Dani was glad she was able to pull a real smile out of him, especially with the way it seems the day had gone for him so far. 

\-----------------------------

“This is ridiculous.” Dani lamented as another black SUV of Malcolm’s mother pulled up to the harbor with the detective and profiler inside. The large yacht almost looked like a cruise ship with how fancy it appeared. It was a relatively cold late October evening, and both Malcolm and Dani worked to suppress shivers as they got out of the vehicle. The idea of any type of boat party at this time of year seemed ridiculous to Malcolm but he was well aware that these yachts were equipped with heating and cooling systems. His mother and Ainsley loved these kinds of events when Malcolm was a teenager, but he tried his best to get out of them every time he could. He was good at imagining the worst-case scenario and not having land readily available under his feet heightened his anxiety. 

“I second that.” Malcolm offered, shoving his hands deep into the pockets of his jacket. They were dressed for a party, not for the weather and Malcolm did not envy Dani’s bare legs exposed in the very blustery wind blowing with the front coming from the north. He noticed Gil and JT waiting at the boarding platform and nodded to them before heading towards them, Dani following a step behind. Gil nodded to them as they approached.

“We are looking for anyone suspicious. They may or may not be striking again tonight depending on how much they have spiraled, but the sooner we can find him, the better. We don’t need any more bodies in the Bay. Make sure you stay under the radar, we don’t need anyone wondering why there are cops crashing the party.” Gil instructed. 

“Great, let’s hit the party people!” JT said blowing on his hands, exuding the most excitement that Malcolm had seen since joining the team months back. Gil rolled his eyes and led the group onto the yacht. Dani hadn’t realized just how biting the wind was outside until the warm humid air of the yacht rolled into her like a wall. It was almost too hot, the air thick with conversation and fake laughter, but these were the type of people that were too expensive to sweat. Everyone but Malcolm allowed their jackets to be put into a coat check room directly to the left of the entrance. Dani supposed that while Malcolm came from one of those families that were too expensive to sweat, he was just too skinny to sweat. And probably anemic. She didn’t see iron tablets in his lineup of medications to fight his neurotic tendencies that were displayed on his kitchen counter.

Malcolm watched JT immediately saunter over to the bar. He knew JT took his job too seriously to drink while on a stakeout, but predicted he probably order a coke and flirt with one eye and look for their guy with the other. Gil headed towards a large group surrounding a man who was animatedly telling a story that throngs of women giggling with their hands held over their mouths, looking up at the man from beneath their lashes hoping to be the one he would take home tonight. Malcolm thought that could be a pretty good lead, the profile he had built did suggest that their predator would seduce their victims before sinking them in the harbor, but he figured Gil would have that one under control. Malcolm looked behind him, making eye contact with Dani before lifting a brow and heading towards the front of the yacht on his own. He glanced behind him again to see Dani not giving any warmth to a man who was clearly trying to charm her and quietly chucked. 

It was a struggle to make it to the bow of the yacht. Women in all sorts of different glitzy dresses but all the same in mannerisms continuously latched onto his arms and purposefully bumped against him as he passed, hoping to trap him in a pointless conversation that Malcolm was desperate to avoid. All in all, it took a full half hour for him to escape countless conversations and make it to the staircase that would take him up to the balcony overhanging the main floor. He was looking for a good vantage point to truly be able to observe as many of the party goers as possible. Standing with his back against the wall behind him, he blended into the shadows to appear less suspicious himself. 

\------------------------------

It had been several hours and Malcolm had found a bench on the balcony to sit on after seeing absolutely no one that he thought could be their suspect. He was surprised to find himself struggling to stay awake, but he hadn’t gotten any night terror free rest in what felt like weeks. He rubbed at his eyes and propped his chin on his hand, resting his elbows on his knees. Blinking hard, he looked back to the party going on below and suddenly felt a gaze on him. Moving his eyes slightly to the right he found Gil and Dani, drinks in the hand looking up at him. Gil quirked a brow while Dani just kept her eyes steady on him and Malcolm knew they were trying to gauge how he was doing. Malcolm gave them an exasperated smile before making a show out of giving a large yawn and looking around the crowd shrugging heavily, trying to get across that he was just bored of events like this. Gil’s eyes crinkled with a matching warmth that was in his smile. Dani just shook her head but even she couldn’t hide the hint of a smile.

“Hiding from friends, are we?” a voice came from his left. Malcolm looked up to see a blonde with enough hairspray in her hair to create another hole in the ozone smiling down at him. He sighed as silently as he could and murmured, “Kind of avoiding everyone.” She clearly didn’t hear him and he hadn’t really meant for her too, he was too polite to try and purposely run anyone off by hurting their feelings. She sat beside him on the bench, solidifying that her presence was going to be ongoing.

“I’m Tatiana.” She announced. “What’s your name, sweetie?” Malcolm opened his mouth and closed it again tilting his head in a slightly uncomfortable confusion. The woman was clearly a comparable age to his own, but seemed to be talking to him as if he were decades younger than her.

“Malcolm.” He finally expelled towards her. She placed her hand on Malcolm’s knee, allowing it to drift higher and higher while he fought the urge to squirm. 

“You’re a quiet one aren’t you, Malcolm? I bet you aren’t behind closed doors.” Tatiana continued attempting to make eye contact with him. Just when Malcolm was about to shoot himself in the foot and unintentionally announce that he really rather was a screamer, just not in the way that she was hoping, another conversation drifted into his consciousness from the very back of the balcony.

“I don’t think that we’re allowed on deck, Robert.” Came a clearly intoxicated giggling female voice. Malcolm drowned out the prattle that Tatiana was continuing to look over at the two people at the stern. Another blonde was draped over a man in a red and black uniform that all of the employees of the yacht were required to wear. The man - Robert, Malcolm presumed - was practically carrying the woman who couldn’t even put one foot in front of the other without nearly crashing headlong into the wall of the boat.

“Don’t you fret, Elise, I am the captain’s second mate. We get a few extra privileges.” Robert says with a carnivorous smirk. “Don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll find all sort of creative ways to stay warm.” He turned his head over his shoulder to make sure no one was watching, causing Malcolm to abruptly turn to Tatiana with a grin plastered on his face to look like he was engaged in the conversation that the woman was having with herself, to be frank. Out of the corner of his eye, Malcolm saw Robert fumble with a door marked as ‘Employees Only’ which opened up to a staircase leading upwards. 

“Tatiana,” Malcolm started, interrupting her explanation of her inherited wealth from her dead first husband. “I’m sorry, but I have to use the restroom. There is a man downstairs who has been staring at you for the past ten minutes that I’m going to assume is husband number two. I think he’s starting to catch on, you might want to head back down. Have a good evening!” Tatiana seemed startled by his cheerfulness but looked down to the main floor to find that a man, her husband, was in fact watching her intently. 

“Good catch, Malcolm. Maybe I’ll see you later before the boat makes it back to the dock.” Tatiana was still eyeing him in a way that made him uncomfortable but she turned and left before Malcolm truly had time to be shocked at her continued interest him after being caught. After being sure that Tatiana was well and truly gone he quickly walked to the door that Robert and Elise had disappeared behind a minute before. A voice came through his earpiece as he disappeared behind the door and quickly ascended the staircase.

“Everything alright, kid? You disappeared pretty fast.” Gil pointed out sounding concerned. There had been little to no chatter between the team through the earpieces to avoid suspicion, other than JT announcing how much he liked a song or which girls he thought could really dance, so Malcolm was sure everyone was on high alert after Gil’s question. 

“Balcony, employee only entrance at the stern of the boat, a man just took a highly intoxicated woman up on deck.” Malcolm rushed to explain in as quietly as he could so as to not alert Robert or Elise. 

“Bright, you need to wait for backup! Bright!” Gil huffed, sounding like he was in rush. Malcolm knew that it was in fact better to wait for backup after all of the situations that he had found himself in since joining the team but he was also aware that it was going to take precious minutes for the detectives to fight through the crowds to make it topside, and Elise likely didn’t have minutes to spare. 

“Bright. Malcolm!” This time it was Dani, but even though he was shocked to hear her address him by his first name he muted his earpiece so he could focus on the situation at hand. Malcolm slowly opened the door at the top of the stairs to avoid any squeaking and was surprised as the first snowflakes of the late fall fell into his eyes. The wind was whipping and his nose immediately began to run. He quickly glanced around before noticing the pair he was searching for. Robert had Elise pushed with her back up against the railing while they practically devoured each other’s faces. Not having time to be disgusted, Malcolm’s eyes fell on a duffel bag sitting only three feet from the couple, a chain clearly visible though what the chain was attached to was still hidden within the bag. That was enough for him.

“Hey!” Malcolm proclaimed, instantly feeling out of control of the situation. Both of them whipped their heads around to Malcolm. “It looks like this is where the fun is.” Continued Malcolm, awkwardly attempting to get their attention by flirting with the murderer and his would-be victim.

“What the fuck!” slurred Elise. “Did you follow us up here, creep?” Malcolm opened his mouth not having a single idea as to what was going to come out when Elise interrupted him.

“Oh hey, you actually aren’t half bad. Are you looking to get in on this action?” she asked, giggling. 

“Um, totally!” the fake excitement in Malcolm’s voice went completely unnoticed by Elise but Robert picked up on it, tilting his head to the side. “Why don’t you come over here, Elise, give Robert a break?” Malcolm’s words came out breathy and that was when Robert reacted. Elise had just started to move away from him and head clumsily towards Malcolm saying, “Okay, kiddo!” again with the weird patronizing tone that confused Malcolm to no end. She hadn’t gotten more than one foot away from Robert before he grabbed her wrist and yanked her back against him. With a flash, a knife was suddenly at Elise’s throat. 

“What the fuck!” Elise just about wailed this time. “Do you two have some sort of history or something?” 

“Very recent history actually, not that Robert knew.” Malcolm stated with his hands up hoping to placate the irate man. “I’m with the NYPD, Robert. I’m going to need you to release Elise now.” Robert just scoffed with a wild look in his eyes. 

“Why don’t you make me?” he challenged Malcolm. 

“Okay, okay,” Malcolm started but while he was distracted by trying to figure out a way to deescalate the situation, Robert shoved Elise forward and started running towards the bow of the yacht. Malcolm rushed forward and grabbed her before she could nose dive to the ground. 

“Can you make it to the stairs, Elise? There are cops on the way there that will take care of you.” She nodded quickly, her eyes suddenly looking much more sober from the shock of the situation. “Okay, go on then.” Malcolm turned her around, giving her a gentle shove towards the door that led to the stairs. With that he turned on heel racing after Robert. He slowed down as he made it to the front of the yacht, spinning around looking for any hint as to where their suspect had ended up. Malcolm saw a flash a movement behind a pile of crates that were full of life vests and slowly approached. 

“Come on, Robert. It’s over!” Malcolm called out.

“Like hell it is.” With a grunt Robert launched himself over the crates and sent himself crashing into Malcolm. The forward momentum of the man forced Malcolm to go reeling backwards until his back crashed into the railing of the bow, the position eerily similar to the one he had found Elise in. Malcolm desperately pushed at the hands that were fisted into his jacket at his shoulders but still found his feet slowly lifting from the deck at Robert pushed harder and harder Suddenly, the murderer’s grip loosened and Malcolm started relaxing forward thinking that back up had arrived and he was just too panicked to have heard. In the same breath, Robert pushed again at Malcolm’s shoulders, completely catching him off guard. Malcolm’s body tilted back over the railing enough that his center of balance was completely precarious. He was too busy flailing his hands in an attempt to grab onto the railing to kick out when Robert hooked an arm around his knee and yanked upwards. Malcolm lost any hope of a hold on the railing as he found himself flipping, falling away, bracing himself for the free fall. His head promptly thwacked against the outside of the yacht and he fell like a rock into the water below, vaguely registering a shout of “Malcolm!” in his confusion before he was swallowed whole.

\---------------------------------

Gil, Dani, and JT had all just made it to the bow of the boat after Elise had told them that Malcolm and her attacker had headed that just in time to see the flash of a black jacket roll over the railing followed by a thunk and a splash soon after that. 

“Malcolm! Bright!” All three detectives shouted a variation of Malcolm’s name after watching him disappear over the railing with wide eyes.

“Hands up, on your knees!” Gil shouted at Robert who was standing stock still where he had sent Malcolm over. All three had their guns trained on the man and there was several beats of silence before Robert attempted to make a second break for it. He had barely made it a step in a half before he found a bullet lodged in his leg bringing him flat down on the deck with a shout. He was quickly surrounded. Gil grabbed him by his shirt collar.

“I swear to God!” Gil shook him, his head banging on the ground beneath him repeatedly. “Did you put one of those weights on him?” Behind Gil, Dani and JT had run to the railing trying to catch any glimpse of the profiler. Robert laughed cruelly making Gil’s heart sink.

“Answer the question, dammit, or you’re going to find a bullet between your eyes very quickly here.” Robert’s face fell but the smirk didn’t quite leave his lips. 

“Unfortunately, I didn’t quite have time for that.” Gil heaved a sigh of relief but it was short lived. “Probably doesn’t matter though, the kid practically jumped himself. So eager!” The murderer began laughing between groans and Gil couldn’t take it anymore. Winding up, he delivered a right hook that sent Robert’s head cracking down on the deck again, this time knocking him out cold. Gil shoved him to the side, scrambling to his feet to join the other two detectives that were at the railing towards the stern of the yacht at this point, still shouting Malcolm’s name.

“We haven’t seen anything, boss, but the yacht is still moving. If he’s out there he is behind us at this point.” JT updated. 

“He’s out there.” Gil said firmly but both Dani and JT could hear the edge of desperation that crept into his should-be reassuring voice. 

“We need a life boat, now. I’ll call the coast guard.”   
The next ten minutes were a flurry of fast conversations and even faster movements but it still was ten minutes longer than Gil wanted before he, JT, and Dani found themselves in a life boat being lowered into the water below. Dani looked down as her phone dinged. 

“The coast guard couldn’t give us a time that they can be here, boss. There’s a potential jumper over at the Brooklyn Bridge so hands are tied over there.” Gil shook his head and turned to JT. “JT, do you have the charts for the yacht’s course yet?” They had told the captain to anchor the boat as soon as they could but they were an undetermined distance away from where Malcolm had gone over. Their best bet was to retrace their steps, as frustrating as it was. Gil couldn’t believe that of today of all days would be the first snow of the season with wind-chill temperature comfortably below freezing. It was pretty wavy in just the little lifeboat given the strong winds but the detectives weren’t going to give up until they found what they were going to find, whether it was a person or a body. There was about five minutes of tense silence and scanning eyes before JT spoke up.

“According to the charts, this is just about where we would have been when Bright went in.” The intensity of the situation seemed to somehow kick up even more before Dani thrust her hand over the side of the lifeboat and pulled onboard a sopping wet black jacket. Malcolm’s jacket. While Dani and JT looked sick at the sight of it, Gil was unbelievably relieved. Robert’s suggestion that Malcolm had wanted to jump had been haunting him since the words had left the criminal’s lips. The fact that he had removed his heavy wool coat that undoubtedly had been weighing him down proved that the kid was fighting to live.   
The coat prompted the detectives to start calling out for Malcolm again. Ten more minutes revealed an overly expensive shoe that was fished out by JT. They couldn’t be too far. The whipping wind didn’t make it easy to listen for voices and Dani cynically figured that their calls were being ripped away on the currents before they would ever reach any ears. She shook her head and opened her mouth to say something but Gil cut her off. 

“Quiet!” he said almost frantically. “Listen for a minute. I heard something, I’m sure of it.” There was a full thirty seconds of silence other that the whistling wind. Gil hung his head before he shot back up, alert. He had absolutely heard a faint “Gil!” pulled towards them by the wind. Dani breathed in harshly through her nose and turned her head in the direction the voice had come from. 

"There.” She breathed but the others couldn’t hear her. “There!” she said again louder and more desperate, pointing toward the east. She had heard a splash that caught her attention. She wasn’t sure how her brain was distinguishing it from the splashing of the waves around them, but she just instinctually knew it was different. Gil didn’t question her, steering the life raft in the direction she was pointing. Another thirty seconds or so passed before a head emerged from the water along with an arm, though the arm was quickly pulled back down and a wave passed over Malcolm’s head. The lifeboat was next to the spot where he disappeared in an instant

"Come on, come on…” JT was muttering. And then Malcolm was there, almost within arm’s reach, sputtering and blinking water out of his eyes.

"We’ve got you.” Gil reached out, JT latching onto the back of his shirt to make sure he didn’t join Malcolm in the drink. Grasping his wrist, Gil began pulling Malcolm towards him. He was startled when Malcolm put his hand on top of his own and started prying at his fingers.

"What the hell are you doing, Bright?” Dani just about yelled at him trying to reach out as well to grab his struggling fingers and get him to stop. Malcolm managed to slip free of Gil’s grip before taking a deep breath and submerging himself under the waves again. When he resurfaced he was almost out of the team’s reach again. 

"Dammit, Bright! Malcolm, come on, what is going on?” Gil was getting desperate and hopelessly confused at Malcolm’s refusal to let them help. Malcolm huffed, trying to expel the salty water from his mouth before he finally spoke in ragged shivery gasps.

“It’s been an… abnormally cool… summer.”

“Bright, for real you’re starting to piss me off, man. What the hell are you going on about?” JT grunted, trying to keep a steady grasp on both Gil and Dani both of whom had re-latched onto Malcolm’s arms. 

“Water temperature is… lower than usual… probably 50° F.” Malcolm was able to grab onto the outside of the life boat, regaining his breath a little bit. “Due to my lower than average body weight and more than likely anemic status, I’ve got maybe an hour before severe hypothermia sets in from being in the water.” Snow was started to stick to his hair. Still gripping the lifeboat Malcolm dunked himself under again for an almost worrying amount of time. He came back up, barely taking a breath before he started taking again. 

“The water actually feels great compared to the air temperature!” Malcolm exclaimed huffing a laugh that the three detectives did not return. His lips were already purpling worryingly.

“What aren’t you telling us, Bright? Why aren’t you letting us get you out of here? You’ve already been in the water over a half hour, that’s all you left before things get really bad.” Dani cut off Gil who had opened his mouth, biting words on his tongue. He looked ready to sock Malcolm in order to be allowed save him.

“The air temperature is below freezing because of this wind. If you couldn’t tell from the snow. Merry Christmas to me!” JT scoffed, Malcolm’s brain was clearly freezing in a state of absurdity. “I get out of this water and I’ve got fifteen minutes at most before sever hypothermia. I really don’t like the cold, Gil.” 

“I know you don’t, kid, I know.” Gil grasped one of Malcolm’s hands “But do you have any better suggestions? We’re relatively dry up here, but it’s getting pretty chilly for us, too. Coast guard won’t make it in time to be able to get you warm immediately. Our best bet is to get you back to that yacht. Or better yet… Dani, do you still have cell service?” 

“Yeah, boss, barely.” Dani fumbled with her phone. 

“Call the paramedics and let them know the situation, we are headed straight back to the dock. We’ll need them waiting for us. The yacht isn’t going to have the supplies we need. It’s twenty minutes back to the yacht and probably another forty back to the dock from there, we were on our way back to shore. We can make it in probably twenty minutes. You’re just going to have to make that work, you hear me, Bright?” Malcolm tiredly nodding, forcing himself underwater one more time. By the time he came back up Dani was off the phone with 9-1-1.

“They’ll be waiting for us, boss. Let’s get this over with.” Dani and Gil reached for Malcolm once more with JT spotting them. 

\-------------------------------

It took a few minutes of gasps and swearing, as well as one gut wrenching moment when the lifeboat tipped dangerously to the side, but Malcolm was finally on the lifeboat. Gil immediately threw the boat into forward motion, jostling his passengers but knew that he didn’t have time to spare on caring. Dani and JT’s hands were hovering over Malcolm unsure what to do until Gil shouted over the wind to them.

“Get those clothes off him, he’s better off bare skinned right now than in frozen clothes!” Gil was right, Dani and JT tugged at Malcolm’s shirt and jeans which were already growing stiff in the unforgiving wind. They managed to yank the clothing off, leaving on his boxers to at least give him some modesty (and JT absolutely refused to sit in a boat with a fully naked Bright. “I’ll throw myself overboard!”). The first aid kit that they had brought with them had a small emergency blanket that they hastily wrapped around Malcolm’s shivering form. He was lying prone on his side, shaking so hard the boat would have felt like it was in an earthquake if they weren’t already amid all of the waves. His head was gently smacking into the bottom of the boat with each wracking shiver. 

In the glow of the emergency lights onboard they could see the extent of what appeared to be a decent sized gash on his left temple. There was water diluted pink streaks drying down on the side of his face but it seemed like the cold was almost preventing the cut from oozing. The blood wasn’t coagulating, it was freezing. Malcolm hadn’t opened his eyes yet but he was still conscious. 

“Here, here.” Dani began removing her gloves but Malcolm put a hand on hers before she could get the second one off. He turned his head to look at her with one eye finally cracked open.

“No.” His voice was surprisingly clear for that syllable but quickly lost its conviction as he continued. “You don’t… even have pants… Dani!” he shuttered out. Dani made a frustrated noise but knew that she was the second most likely to get hyperthermia at this point and that Malcolm wouldn’t allow that. 

“Are you always so misogynistic when you are slightly chilly?” she asked attempting to lighten the situation. It worked and Malcolm huffed a laugh out of lips that were now more blue than purple. Without a word JT took his own gloves and jammed them onto Malcolm’s cramped up pale fingers. Dani raised an eyebrow at him. 

“What?” JT huffed, not meeting her gaze. “I also don’t want to sit in a boat with a dead Bright, either.” Dani would have had to smile at JT’s emotional constipation if the suggested situation wasn’t rapidly approaching the realm of possibility. 

“Come here, Bright.” Dani said grabbing at Malcolm’s shaking shoulders, knowing he wouldn’t be doing any moving on his own. She managed pull him into a half sitting position, head tucked under her chin and her arms around his thin waist. His frozen hair made the skin on her neck sting. She was hyper aware that Malcolm’s shivers had started to slow considerably and his breath was coming out in less frequent puffs through his mouth.

“Get over here, too.” She waved a chastising hand at JT. He looked uncomfortable at the prospect of essentially cuddling up to Malcolm but he knew there were absolutely no other options. He crawled to the other side of Malcolm, effectively pinning the profiler between the two detectives. A hush fell over the four occupants of the lifeboat other than Dani’s quiet murmurs of reassurance to Malcolm that probably weren’t even actual words.

They were about five minutes away from the nearest dock, it was within eyeshot, when things took a turn for the worst. Malcolm’s gloved hands began pushing at Dani and JT. He had stopped shivering a minute or two ago.

“You know,” Malcolm started with an odd positive tone to his voice, “I’m think I’m actually pretty warm!” Dani’s head whipped up to meet JT’s eyes and saw her own unedited concern reflected back at her. She gripped Malcolm harder as he started to actually squirm in the detective’s grip. 

“Dammit.” Gil growled as he glanced at Malcolm struggling. “Keep him down, or he’s going to tip the boat.” It wasn’t hard for the two of them to keep Malcolm relatively still. He may have thought he was fine but his lack of any sort of strength of mental awareness proved otherwise. Gil knew that things were officially in the red because a normal Malcolm, even a sleep deprived manic Malcolm, knew that the throws of hypothermia could cause people to feel like they are overheating contrary to the truth. He was falling for the tricks his body was playing on him. Malcolm could avoid sleep for days with a surprising strength, but this was overpowering him.

\---------------------------------

By the time they raced up to the dock, Malcolm had calmed down but he was also almost unconscious. His eyes would blink occasionally but he couldn’t focus on anything. His hands would twitch but Dani kept them between her own to help them stay still. She thought she’d never be more grateful if she could she his ‘I’m fine shaky fist’ instead of this. The lack of movement in Malcolm’s body was even disturbing to JT who could hardly stand Malcolm’s frantic gesturing and movement normally.

Gil just about rammed the dock with the lifeboat. While the other two struggled to keep their balance, Gil found his way onto the dock gripping the edge of the boat to keep it from going anywhere. Dani and JT managed to stand with Malcolm held up between them, keeping him upright while passing him to Gil. With everyone off the boat, Dani ran ahead to meet the paramedics waiting with a stretcher at where the dock met up with solid ground. Gil and JT lagged behind practically dragging a lolling Malcolm along with him, his feet too numb and brain too fogged to be of any help. 

Two paramedics rushed up to leave Gil and JT of their charge, settling him onto the stretcher. Malcolm’s limbs seemed too cold to fully relax and the paramedic with fingers at the pulse point on Malcolm’s neck wasn’t even trying to hid their concern. 

“Heart rate is extremely slow, possible ventricular fibrillation, and thermometer reads 80° F. He needs to get to a hospital now for peritoneal lavage. We have warmed fluids ready via IV in the bus until we get there.” The two paramedics lift the stretcher into the back of the ambulance. Gil gently shoves Dani forward towards the ambulance.

“Go with them, you should probably get checked out, too.” Gil gave Dani a stern look before she could protest. She knew that could benefit from getting warm after cradling a wet Malcolm in just a party dress, jacket and gloves, but Malcolm was supposed to be the one Gil babied, not her. She had parents that were good to her. Gil was certainly a protector figure in her life but Malcolm was the one that was basically his kid. She hadn’t realized it until a month or two into working with Malcolm that she had actually overheard Gil having conversations with him on phone throughout her time on his team.

With a terse nod Dani hopped into the back of the ambulance with the two paramedics who immediately shut the doors and smacked the window to the driver to signal they were ready to go. The sirens were flipped on and the ambulance quickly made ants out of Gil and JT who were running to the parking lot to get to their SUV.

A warm clean blanket was handed to Dani before all efforts were placed on Malcolm. Dani opened the folded blanket, swinging it around her shoulders and settling into its warmth. The adrenaline in her system was crashing as she watched listlessly as the paramedics fluttered around Malcolm. A warmed oxygen mask was placed over his face, an IV of warming fluids was inserted, and hot packs were placed on his neck, armpits, and groin. Dani shook enough awareness into herself at that point to help the paramedics place piles of preheated blankets like the one around her shoulders on top of Malcolm. She smoothed her hand over the blanket covering Malcolm’s legs, just now noticing the way her hands were shaking.

“Ma’am, I think you may want to sit down now. We are doing all that we can for him now and it would be best if we could prevent you from going into shock as well.” The first paramedic placed a hand on her shoulder and firmly pushed down until she acquiesced. Dani internally scoffed but knew that they weren’t too far from the truth. The last hour had been a blur but now the minutes waiting to get to the hospital seemed to be passing in slow motion. 

Malcolm had started mumbling soon after the blankets had been placed on him, eyebrows creased in probably discomfort. Considering he had seemed to think he was perfectly warm out on the water he likely unconsciously felt like he was in an oven. Every sound he made was unintelligible, though Dani couldn’t tell if it was because the mask on his face muffled him or because his brain was so addled. It was almost certainly the latter, but it still made Dani uncomfortable to think that Malcolm could be stuck inside that cruel brain of his reliving so many horrible things without being able to cry out for help. 

Dani must have been losing time because the next thing she knew they were no longer jostling around on streets that needed to be repaved and doors to the back of the ambulance were being flung open. Malcolm was lifted up and out of the ambulance while a doctor came over to offer Dani a hand getting out. 

“I’m Dr. Sylvia Hall. We’ve got a great team that will be taking care of Mr. Bright.” The doctor informed her. “If it’s alright with you, I’d like to give you a once over before we let you into the waiting room. I promise to update you as often as I can on your friend’s condition.” Dani mutely nodded allowing herself to be led along into a private room, still a little stuck in her thoughts. She knew she would feel better once she was back with Gil and JT, both of whom she knew would be waiting just outside. And she’d feel better of course once she knew if Malcolm would be okay. When he’d be okay, she told herself. 

Dr. Hall took Dani’s temperature and while it was a little on the low side she let her go out to the waiting room with a fresh heated blanket, a coffee, and a couple hand and feet warmers. When Gil and JT saw her come out into the hallway they stood up and herded over to sit between them. Dani noticed that Ainsley, Malcolm’s sister that she had met a few times here or there over the months was sleeping in the chair next to JT with red rimmed eyes. Dani couldn’t blame her, by now it had to have been close to 2:00 am. Malcolm’s mother had been out of state and was on the first flight back to New York. Gil threw his arm around Dani’s shoulders squeezing in silent reassurance. The silence continued for a long time.

\-------------------------------

It had been a couple of mindless hours before the doctor Dani recognized as one of the people who had wheeled Malcolm away came through the door leading into the waiting room. The coffee the three detectives and Ainsley, who had woken up soon after Dani came into the waiting room, had been sipping on had done nothing more than continue to fry their nerves so they were on their feet in seconds. The smile on the Dr.’s face had them sighing before they even heard the update.

“I take it you four are here for Mr. Bright.” The doctor said warmly, approached the group. They nodded mutely, on still slightly on edge, needing to hear the verbal reassurance to fully relax. “I’m Dr. Schuler, I was in charge of treating your friend. First things first, Mr. Bright is going to alright. We had to perform a peritoneal lavage which is a fairly invasive procedure in which we insert a tube into the chest to allow us to flush warm fluids through the core in order to bring the body temperature up more efficiently in cases of severe hypothermia like Mr. Bright’s. His heartbeat was pretty slow and had starting to go into ventricular fibrillation, which means it had an abnormal fluttering pattern, but he never went into cardiac arrest which of course would be the most concerning condition. We’re still working on raising his temperature, but he is out of the woods. Mr. Bright was rather malnourished prior to this event which placed further stress on his body and allowed him to be more susceptible to a severe reaction to the cold like he ended up with here. I’d highly suggest he get some help managing his health and I’ll be giving the names of some professionals that I would personally suggest. I’ll come back out to get you all when he is awake so you can visit.” With a nod the doctor disappeared behind the door he had come in through.

It was good news, of course it was good news, but to say the group was disappointed that they couldn’t see Malcolm yet would be an understatement. JT settled back down in his chair leaning over with elbows resting on his knees but Ainsley, Dani, and Gil couldn’t seem to sit still any longer. Gil had started pacing across the room, Dani was leaning against an open wall tapping her fingers on her crossed arms, and Ainsley was just standing in the middle of the room looking a little lost. It was at that moment that Jessica came blustering into the room stopping which she saw the positions everyone was in.

“Well?” she asked a slightly hysterical air to her voice, her arms flailing in a way that would have made it very clear to anyone who didn’t already know that this was Malcolm’s mother. Ainsley walked over into Jessica’s arms. 

“He’s going to be alright.” She murmured to her mother. 

“Oh!” Jessica couldn’t manage anything more than the exclamation of relief before collapsing into her daughter exhaustedly. Gil walked over and laid a gentle had on Jessica’s shoulder to get her attention.

“He’s out of the woods Jessica, but some things are going to have to change. Malcolm isn’t going to like it but he’s got to eating more. And sleeping more. He needs to find a way to be happier or this will be just one of the many times we almost lose him before we actually do.” Jessica looked ready to pick a fight for a moment but she deflated almost just as quickly. She swallowed hard.

“I know.” She shook her head.

“We’ll work together. You’re not the only one that loves and cares about that kid. You aren’t alone in this.” Gil reassured her. He got nervous for a moment when Jessica’s eyes became wet with often unexpressed emotions but she just cleared her throat and put her hand on top of his resting her should to acknowledge that she would accept their help. Gil used that hand to steer her over to the chairs.

“We’ll be able to see our boy soon.”

\-------------------------------

After about an hour Dr. Schuler came back into the waiting room beckoning the group to follow him as Malcolm had woken up a few minutes ago and seemed fairly lucid. The doctor opened the door for them letting them know that they had few minutes before he came back for them to allow Malcolm to rest. They stepped through to door to find Malcolm lying in the hospital bed under layers of blankets with a dopey grin on his face.

“You all came just for me?” he joked weakly as Jessica and Ainsley each grabbed one of his hands and Gil squeezed his shoulder. Dani and JT hung back towards the foot of the bed. He looked around.

“What? No flowers and bursting into tears?” Jessica scoffed at Malcolm’s attempts to ease the tension. 

“Please, I’m not trying to get you hospitalized while you’re in the hospital.” Jessica and Gil made eye contact and almost laughed despite the situation. JT looked confused and opened his mouth to ask but Gil cut him off to answer the impending question.

“Malcolm here is allergic to just about every flower under the sun.” Dani shook her head in disbelief at the addition to the never-ending list of unfortunate facts about Malcolm Bright.

“Especially daisies!” Malcolm announced heat rolling to the side to look at Gil.

“Yes, especially daisies.” Gil humored Malcolm, pushing his hair back from where it was falling across his fore head and into his eyes. Malcolm’s swiveled to the two detectives by his feet. JT was staring at him but not quite at his face. Malcolm raised a hand up and brushed against his jaw and neck hissing at a small bloom of paint. Ainsley pulled hands away from his face before he could poke at the bandage on his temple as well.

“Yeah, the hot packs were pretty hot.” Malcolm acknowledged slowly lifting on of his arms. On both sides of his neck were angry red patches and there was a matching on in his underarm where the hot packs had moderately burned his skin. He put up a hand up to side of the mouth like he was shielding Ainsley from the conversation before he loudly whispered and pointed at his lap, “Don’t tell Ains, but I got a burn down there, too.”

“Alright bro, they must have you on the good stuff.” Ainsley huffed grabbing his hand back from his face again. The doctor walked in again, hearing Ainsley’s observation. 

“Yes, Mr. Bright is on a fairly strong muscle relaxant to try and help combat some of the muscle cramping he is going to experience. It’s probably a good time to allow Malcolm to get back to sleeping.” Malcolm started to shift a little bit, clearly uncomfortable, and his hand shook in his mother’s gasp.

“If he starts dreaming, will you please let one us come back here?” Jessica asked, though it came out as more of a statement. The doctor was privy to all of Malcolm’s charts and understood the situation. He nodded at Jessica before holding the door open for the group to leave. 

“We’ll be right out there, kid.” Gil squeezed Malcolm’s shoulder to comfort his and the profiler seemed to settle down. Before they all left Gil placed his hand on Malcolm’s forehead and spoke quietly one more time. 

“Things are going to have to change, Malcolm. They’re going to change.” Malcolm nodded against Gil’s hand before he drifted off.

\---------------------------------

And things did change. Malcolm began cooking again. At first, he would just bring in little bits for Dani here and there, blushing hard the first time, but after JT and other officers had managed to steal bites here and there he was bringing on batches of recipes he was trying out a number of times a week. It hard to refuse to eat when he was sat at a table with his peers who were all feasting away so he ended up eating more by way of default. The team had also taken to bringing in little snacks themselves, casually placing a cookie or a parfait into Malcolm’s hands with a “You should try this, it’s great.” Even JT began bringing in traditional southern comfort foods that his mother would make. They didn’t stare him down until he ate the food, and there were times that they’d see it in the trash or in the fridge later completely untouched, but more often than not Malcolm would absently take bites when they weren’t looking. It was like a never-ending buffet at the office but it brought everyone closer and no one complained even once.

Gil had started movie and game nights which ended up taking place at his or Malcolm’s places more often than not. At first it was just the core group but soon Dr. Tanaka and various other detectives who were warming up to Malcolm had started joining. If Malcolm recognized that the movie nights were a ploy to allow him to fall asleep during a marathon, he never said anything. When Malcolm would start twitching, whimpering, or sweating in his sleep someone, usually Dani would quickly nudge him awake before he could get into the throes of a night terror, jokingly chastising him for ‘missing the best part of the movie’. To be fair, they all knew that Malcolm knew what they were doing. But Malcolm had some color to his face and a smile that was more genuine than manic. They were allowed to take care of him that way because they were a family. Malcolm still had more ‘I’m fine’ days than good days but a simple quiet smile from Gil or Dani could make a difference for him. Even JT had started joking with him (“It’s definitely not Jerome, bro, but good try”). Malcolm had the distinct feeling for the first time since he was a little boy that he was going to turn out okay.


End file.
